Last month, I came across the surname Grable in conjunction with our cemetery. In particular, I was looking for information on two sisters who were local dressmakers. They were buried here in June, 1895 after having been disinterred from Frederick’s Methodist Episcopal Church Graveyard, once located on the southeast corner of East 4th Street and Middle Alley (today’s Maxwell Alley). The mortal remains of Jane Grable (1784-1854) and Sevilla Grable (1800-1853) are located in our Area NN, and I believed that they connect back to a German immigrant named Nicholas Samuel Grable (1695-1774), and his son John Grable (1722-1801) residing here in the county from the late 1700s. Information was scarce on these Grables, but I found a number of others in Mount Olivet under a variation of the name—Grabill. Of the 15 decedents buried here with that spelling, I zeroed in on the earliest born and found William H. Grabill (1833-1897) and wife Maria Louisa (Hamilton). The next "earliest" were Jacob S. Grabill (1852-1905) and wife Emily (Kintz), and George Frank Grabill (1854-1942) and wife Ida M. (Barrick). To build suspense, I will share here that one of these three gentlemen died earlier than he should have due to a musical instrument. More on that in a moment. All three of these "Grabills" were related via Moses Ulysses Grabill, Jr. (1796-1861), the second of a succession of three Moses Grabills, farmers who would make their homes near Woodsboro. Moses Grabill, Jr. married Sarah Wolf in 1817. This man is not in Mount Olivet, but he, his wife, and parents are listed on a memorial located among other graves outside St. John's Reformed Church in Woodsboro. Moses Grabill, Jr. was a native of New Holland, (Lancaster County) Pennsylvania who fathered 15 known children including the forementioned William H. Grabill. William H. Grabill was a farmer in the "upper" Bartonsville area, located east/southeast of Frederick City on the east side of the Monocacy River. Grabill's farm is listed on the 1870 Titus Atlas and positioned just north of Linganore Creek (off Linganore Road) and about a mile north of MD route 144. The Frederick Police Training Center is here in this vicinity today. William H. Grabill died in early September, 1897 and local newspapers published his obituary saying that he was "well known and respected by many friends and acquaintances." An article on his funeral reports that it was well-attended, including the fact that there was a procession through town to Mount Olivet of "40 vehicles" which I thought was an interesting happenstance based on the time period, shortly after the introduction of automobiles in the US in 1893. But perhaps these were simply just horse and buggies and carriages. Another son of Moses Grabill Jr. was Jacob Grabill, father of Jacob S. Grabill and George Frank Grabill. That makes William H., the uncle of the latter two "early Grabills" found here in Mount Olivet. So there's my family tree work for you. The two brothers, along with a third, William Alfred Grabill, lived with their parents (Jacob and Caroline (Dinterman) Grabill) on the farm of their grandfather to start out their lives. In the 1873 Titus Atlas, I found Jacob Grabill operating a farm on the west side of the Monocacy River not far from Utica. George Frank Grabill has a striking tombstone dominated by text and located in Mount Olivet's Area S/Lot 127, about 20 yards north of our World War I Memorial Gazebo. He married into the Barrick family, one of the most prominent families in the Woodsboro District and purveyors of the storied stone quarry that has been in operation since 1874. A carpenter by trade, George Frank Grabill's obituary states that he was the second oldest male resident of Walkersville at the time of his death. That's an interesting accomplishment I guess! Finally, that leaves me to tell you about Jacob S. Grabill. He particularly caught my attention when I originally researched his name in our cemetery interment database last month. The remark line of his entry reads as follows: "Resided at 307 E. 3rd St., Frederick, MD. Died from injury from handling a piano." I immediately wanted to know more. Jacob S. Grabill was born on December 27th, 1852. I venture to wonder if the "S" stands for Samuel, a possible connection to the Grable sisters' ancestor Nicholas Samuel Grable. The 1870 census shows Jacob S. Grabill working on his father's farm with both his older and younger brothers. Jacob married Emily "Emma" Kintz, daughter of Lewis and Margaret (Gehr) Kintz, in 1876 and took up residence in Frederick on West Fifth Street next to his in-laws. The couple would have two daughters, Myrtle born in 1877 and Katie M. born a year later. Jacob's profession was that of a butcher in the 1880 census, and I'm curious whether he was employed at the Baumgardner meat market which was located in close proximity to his home. Sometime in the next decade, Jacob S. Grabill would change his profession, and unfortunately this would lead to a shortened life. He would now work as a self-employed drayman. What's a "drayman" you may ask? Well, a drayman was historically the driver of a "dray," a low, flat-bed wagon without sides, pulled generally by horses or mules. Drays were used to transport all kinds of goods. In this line of work, I'm sure that Mr. Grabill was quite familiar with Mount Olivet as he likely was regularly employed to haul gravestones and monuments from out of town vendors delivering their works here by train. The Frederick train depot scene likely resembled the photo below showing draymen at a rail depot in Michigan at the turn of the century. ![]() Draymen are most famous for being deliverers of beer. The term is used in the United Kingdom for brewery delivery men, even though routine horse-drawn deliveries are almost entirely extinct. Some breweries still maintain teams of horses and a dray, but these are used only for special occasions such as festivals or opening new premises. There are some breweries still delivering daily/weekly using horses. From a brief mention of a horse purchase by Jacob S. Grabill in the Frederick News, it seems likely that Jacob S. Grabill entered the industry in 1889. It was dangerous work as the following clippings from subsequent newspapers attest to. Not only were you lifting heavy objects, but you were moving said objects. One was relying on spoked wheels and horses traveling on roadways much different from those of today. There were dirt roads that would develop ruts in times of rain, snow and ice covered thoroughfares during winter, and any" paved" roads were made of brick and stone, not smooth-laid macadam like today. Trolleys in the streets and accompanying rails also added a degree of danger to the profession. In 1902, Jacob's business seems to have been going fine. It enabled him to purchase real estate in 1898-1899 from local businessman David Lowenstein. Grabill would erect a two-story dwelling at 307 East Third Street extended. In the 1900 census, I reveled in seeing that Jacob and his family lived next to William H. Lebherz and his young sons who would one day open a successful business producing bottle cappers during the Prohibition. Later the Lebherz's Everedy Company would make novelty cooking and chrome items. On the personal level, Jacob's daughter Myrtle became a teacher and was married at home on Christmas Eve 1902 to William H. Pentz of Mechanicsburg, PA. His father Jacob would pass away in November, 1903 after a long illness while a patient at the Montevue Home (county almshouse) just north of town. He is buried at Israel's Creek Cemetery between Walkersville and Woodsboro with his wife (Caroline) who died earlier. That brings us to the fateful day of October 13th, 1905. I guess you could call it an "A0" kind of day for those musically inclined. Jacob S. Grabill was hired by Birely's Palace of Music to deliver an upright piano, maybe more, to the Frederick Fairgrounds in advance of the annual spectacle. Like other vendors, Birely's had a booth at the fair, and were interested in demonstrating the new Vough model, a "changeable pitch piano," to fairgoers. This wasn't Mr. Grabill's first fair, or rodeo, to use the age-old phrase, as he had moved plenty of pianos in his professional experience. I desperately hoped that I would learn more details of the accident, but I can only speculate that the upright piano fell on him while he attempted to unload the large instrument at the fairgrounds. It appears that he was bedridden and housebound for over two weeks before succumbing to death on October 31st, 1905. In scanning old newspapers, I did find the following advertisements in the local newspaper of October, 1905. At the very least, this gave me an idea of why the piano in question was needed for the fair, in addition to telling me the likely make and model of the item that fatally injured our seasoned drayman. Jacob S. Grabill's funeral took place on November 2nd, 1905. He would be laid to rest in Mount Olivet's Area H/Lot 161. Widow Emma Kintz had buried her father here in 1885 and her mother in 1903. The Grabill's daughter Katie is also in this plot in an unmarked grave, as she was buried here in 1881. I thought that maybe Jacob would leave instructions to use his old "dray" to deliver his body to the cemetery instead of an undertaker's hearse or horse-drawn carriage. I soon learned that this was certainly not the case. As the funeral was in progress, a secondary tragedy almost befell Mrs. Grabill and her mourning family. Luckily, the horse survived, but the culprit was not found. In the days to follow, Mrs. Grabill put the horse in question, plus the family business up for sale. She did not have to wait long for a willing buyer. Sadly, Mrs. Kintz would have to endure another terrible blow just months later into the new year. Her daughter, Myrtle, would die of tuberculosis on March 18th, 1906. She would join her parents in Area H/Lot 161. Emily "Emma" (Kintz) Grabill would live over three more decades, dying on December 9th, 1937. She would join the rest of her family in Mount Olivet as a few siblings and their spouses would also be buried in this plot.
Sometimes the study of genealogy is quite melodic, wouldn't you say?
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